Key tag

ABSTRACT

A KEY TAG INCLUDING A HOLDER MOLDED IN A ONE-PIECE CONSTRUCTION HAVING OUTWARDLY EXTENDING TONGUES FORMED AS AN INTEGRAL PART THEREOF, EACH OF THE TONGUES INCLUDING A FREE END THAT IF FOLDABLE FOR CONNECTION TO THE HOLDER AND HAVING A KEY RING MOUNTED THEREON, AT LEAST ONE OF THE TONGUES HAVING THE FREE END THEREOF RELEASABLY CONNECTED   TO THE HOLDER SO THAT THE KEY RING LOCATED ON THE RELEASABLE TONGUE MAY BE REMOVED FROM ENGAGEMENT WITH THE HOLDER AS DESIRED.

NOV. 16, 1971 HOLLAND 3,620,051

KEY TAG Filed Nov. 24, 1969 IN V I'IN 'I'OR,

0 Harold HOZZdJld,

fizz) w Att ys.

United States Patent Olfice 3,620,057 Patented Nov. 16, 1971 3,620,057KEY TAG Harold Holland, Cranston, R.I., assignor to RepublicCorporation, Los Angeles, Calif. Filed Nov. 24, 1969, Ser. No. 879,275Int. Cl. A47g 29/10 U.S. Cl. 7 0456 R Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a key tagof the type that has a key ring permanently secured thereto on which aplurality of keys are received, a second key ring on which a selectedkey is received, being secured to the key tag for removal therefrom asdesired.

Key tags having releasable key rings have been known in various formsheretofore. One of the more popular types of snap-apart key tagsincluded a plunger mechanism that was inserted into a socket of a mainbody portion and secured therein by a locking device, the plungermechanism having a key ring threaded therein with keys secured thereon.When pressure was applied to the plunger mechanism it was released fromthe socket, thereby providing for removal of the key ring attached tothe plunger mechanism from the main body portion. Other forms ofsnap-apart key tags have also been employed, and included variations inthe manner in which the releasable key ring was secured to the main keyholder. In all of these prior known constructions, the parts werenormally constructed of metal materials and usually included some formof a complicated locking mechanism that necessarily increased the costof the device. Because the locking mechanisms were formed of severalparts that were interconnected, the possibility of malfunction orbreaking of the unit was increased, and the expected life of suchsnapapart key tags was relatively short.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a relativelyinexpensive and uncomplicated key tag that is formed with a minimum ofparts and comprises essentially a one-piece holder molded of a plasticmaterial and having outwardly extending tongues integrally joinedthereto on opposed ends thereof. Each of the tongues has a free end thatis foldable for connection to the holder to form a loop, a key ringbeing mounted on the loop of each of the tongues. One of the tongues isreleasably connected to the holder and, as disclosed herein,conventional snap fasteners are secured to the tongue and to the holderto provide for the releasable attachment of the tongue to the holder.Thus, when the key ring mounted on the releasable tongue is to beremoved from the key tag, the snap fastener on the tongue is releasedfrom the complementary fastener on the holder and the key ring and thekeys located thereon are free for disengagement from the holder and theother keys attached thereto.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide asnap-apart key tag having a holder that is molded in a one-piececonstruction of a plastic material and having at least one tongue thatis releasably connected to the holder, a key ring being mounted on thereleasable tongue for removal from the holder when the tongue isdisconnected therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a key tag comprising aholder that is molded in a one-piece construction of a plastic material,the holder having tongues integrally molded on opposed ends thereof, oneof the tongues having a snap fastener secured thereto and being adaptedfor releasable engagement with a complementary snap fastener secured tothe holder.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered inconnection with the accompany illustrative drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing which illustrates the bestmode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the key tag embodied in the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the key tag illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing the releasabletongue of the invention in the disconnected position thereof; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the key tag holder and tongues joinedthereto as molded in a one-piece construction.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawing, andparticularly to FIG. 1, the key tag embodied in the present invention isgenerally indicated at 10 and includes a holder generally indicated at12 which, as illustrated in FIG. 4, is formed in a one-piececonstruction that includes a body portion 14 to which tongues 16 and 18are integrally joined at opposed ends thereof. The holder 12 ispreferably molded of a plastic material such as polyethylene, althoughit is understood that any suitable plastic material can be used withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. The body portion 14 of theholder 12 is illustrated as having a diamon-shaped configuration,although it is again understood that the configuration of the bodyportion 14 is not critical to the invention and any geometric design asdesired can be employed.

The body portion 14 as molded is relatively rigid, although it does havesome flexing characteristics, because of the inherent characteristics ofthe material from which it is molded. However, the thickness of the bodyportion 14 is controlled such that if it is bent it wil return to theoriginal configuration thereof. It is further understood that the flatsurfaces of the body portion are of sufiicient area to enable anysuitable indicia or lettering to be imprinted thereon. As will bedescribed, the tongues 16 and 18 are relativeliy flexible and, in theposition of use, are folded so asto define loops. For this purpose, thethickness of thetongues as molded is somewhat reduced with respect tothe thickness of the body portion 14, although the molding of thetongues 16 and 18 to the body portion 14 is controlled such that thetongues are continuous with the body portion.

As is apparent from the stated purpose of the invention and from theillustrations in the drawing, the device embodied herein provides aconvenient key retainer and in order to mount a plurality of keys on thekey tag for attachment thereto, the tongue 18 is folded over and thefree end thereof as indicated at 20 is fixed to the body portion 14 ofthe holder 12 by a rivet 22. Folding of the tongue 18 in the manner asillustrated defines a loop through which a key ring 24 extends, the ring24 being secured in the loop prior to the attachment of the end 20 bythe rivet 22 to the holder 12. Any selected number of keys indicated at26 may be mounted on the key ring 24, and it is understood that the keys26 as mounted on the ring 24 will be attached to the holder 12, unlessthey are physically removed from the ring 24.

On occasions it is desirable to selectively disengage a key from the keytag, such as when it is necessary to leave a key in the ignition of anautomobile for use by a parking lot attendant, or in other instanceswhen it is necessary to remove a selected key from the key tag atfrequent intervals. In order to provide for this arrangement, the tongue16 is formed with a female snap fastener 28 on the free end 30 thereof.Fixed to the body portion 14 of the holder 12 adjacent to the tongue 16is a complementary male snap fastener 32 that is adapated to receive thefemale snap fastener 28 in engagement therewith. It is seen that whenthe tongue 16 is bent to the position illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 forlocating the snap fastener 28 in engagement with the complementaryfastener 32, a loop is defined that receives a key ring 34 therein. Thekey ring 34 is preferably of a smaller diameter than the ring 24 sincepresumably only one or several keys wil be located thereon. Asillustrated in the drawing, a single key 36 is mounted on the ring 34,and is removable therewith from engagement with the holder 12 byunsnapping the female fastener 28 from its engagement with the malefastener 32. The tongue 16 is then lifted upwardly as illustrated inFIG. 3 and the ring 34, together with the key 36 mounted thereon, isremoved from engagement with the tongue, as further illustrated inphantom in FIG. 3.

In use of the device, those keys indicated at 26 that are to be mountedfor relative permanent use on the ring 24 are located thereon bythreading through the ends of the ring 24 in the usual manner. A key 36that is to be removed from the holder at relatively frequent intervalsis attached to the ring 34 and the ring 34 is then placed on the tongue16 which is locked in place by engagement of the female fastener 28 onthe male fastener '30. When it is desired to remove the key 36 from theholder 12, the fastener 28 is disengaged from the fastener 32, whichreleases the tongue 16 from the folded position thereof. The ring 34 isthen lifted outwardly of the tongue 16 for disengagement from the holder12. It is understood that the ring 34 may thereafter be attached to theholder by threading it on the tongue 16 and folding the tongue andfastening the snap fastener 28 on the snap fastener 32.

What is claimed is:

1. A key tag comprising a holder that is molded in a one-piececonstuction of a plastic material, said holder including a body portionsubstantially surrounded by a peripheral edge, said body portion beinggenerally flat throughout its entire extent and without foldableportions joined thereto, said body portion having flexingcharacteristics but being of relatively stiff construction and ofsufllcient thickness to resist deformation and being returnable to itsoriginal flat condition if flexed, outwardly extending tongues beingmolded integrally to said body portion on opposed ends thereof, each ofsaid tongues having a smaller cross-sectional dimension than that ofsaid body portion so as to be relatively flexible for easy bending, eachof said tongue having a free end that is foldable for connection to saidbody portion to define a loop, a key ring mounted on the loop of each ofsaid tongues, at least one of said tongues having the free end thereofreleasably connected to said body portion, wherein the key ring mountedon said one tongue is removable therefrom when the free end of said onetongue is released from engagement with said body portion.

2. A key tag as set forth in claim 1, the other of said tongues beingpermanently secured to said body portion, wherein the key ring mountedon said other tongue is located thereon for permanent connectionthereto.

3. A key tag as set forth in claim 2, said one tongue having a snapfastener secured thereon, and a complementary snap fastener secured tothe body portion of said holder and releasably receiving the snapfastener secured to said one tongue, wherein the key ring mounted onsaid one tongue is selectively removable from said holder as required.

4. A key tag as set forth in claim 2, a rivet extending through saidbody portion and other tongnue for permanently securing the free end ofsaid other tongue to said body portion.

5. A key tag as set forth in claim 1, a snap fastener secured to saidone tongue adjacent to the free end thereof, and a complementary snapfacstener secured to the body portion of said holder and releasablyreceiving the snap fastener secured to said one tongue, wherein the keyring mounted on said one tongue is selectively removable from saidholder as required.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,070,142 12/1962 McGlynn l403,318,354 5/1967 Borizof 1SO'40 FOREIGN PATENTS 772,808 8/1934 Francel5040 ROBERT L. WOLFE, Primary Examiner

